House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) released an ambitious package of climate proposals that calls for a combination of government mandates, tax incentives and new infrastructure.
The proposals would mandate electric utilities be net-zero emitters of greenhouse gases by 2040 and automakers produce only electric cars by 2035. The 538-page plan also backs placing a price on carbon emissions, imposing tougher methane limits and boosting energy efficiency in buildings. Solar and wind tax credits would be extended through 2025, and the tax credit for electric vehicles would be expanded.
The package has little chance of becoming law as long as Republicans control the Senate and President Trump occupies the White House, but Pelosi and Castor have put down a marker in the hopes that electoral victories by Democrats this year will change the political balance in Congress in 2021.